Case Number 03890

MI-5: VOLUME 1

The Charge

They search for the truth. Their lives are a lie.

Opening Statement

A BBC-produced import from across the pond, MI-5 (known as
Spooks in the U.K., but retitled for American audiences for reasons of
political correctness) takes its place alongside the adventures of James Bond
and George Smiley in the proud tradition of British spy dramas.

Facts of the Case

Set in the national security agency of the title (MI-5 is Britain's
equivalent to our FBI), MI-5 follows the adventures of a team of
counter-terrorism agents as they battle the forces of evil in an unending covert
war. The cast of characters is led by Tom Quinn (Matthew MacFadyen), a dour
young man with the demeanor of someone bearing the weight of the world. Tom's
life is a constant conflict between the demands of his job and the needs of his
girlfriend Ellie (Esther Hall) and her daughter Maisie (Heather Cave), from whom
Tom hides his true identity.

MI-5: Volume 1 collects all six episodes of the show's first season,
in their original, uncut versions (episodes airing in the U.S. on A&E are
trimmed significantly), spread across three discs:

"Thou Shalt Not Kill": MI-5 investigates the disappearance of 20
bombs in Liverpool; meanwhile, an infamous American pro-life extremist is loose
in the countryside. Adding to Tom's worries is a budding romance with a woman he
met during an undercover job.

"Looking After Our Own": Tom and Helen go undercover to root out a
man suspected of provoking race riots throughout the country. What looks to be a
slam-dunk operation becomes complicated when the suspect turns out to be far
cannier than expected.

"One Last Dance": Zoe is inadvertantly caught in the Turkish
embassy when it's taken over by Kurdish extremists, an incident that results in
the uncovering of dark secrets from Tessa's past.

"Traitor's Gate": A legendary agent, Peter Salter (played by
Buffy's Anthony Stewart Head), comes in from the cold after an undercover
assignment in an anarchist group goes awry. Has Salter gone native? MI-5 must
find out before tragedy strikes.

"The Rose Bed Memoirs": When a disgraced former member of
Parliament is released from prison, he reveals the existence of a memoir he
wrote in prison that contains damaging revelations about a prominent minister.
But is the document for real?

"Lesser of Two Evils": An infamous Irish terrorist surfaces with
information about an impending attack, and the team must decide if he can be
trusted -- and if his information is worth the steep price.

The Evidence

In a world living as never before in the shadow of terrorism, intelligence
agencies have been thrust into the spotlight as their activities have taken on a
frightening relevance. Although MI-5 (which began airing in May of 2002
and is about to enter its third season) was conceived prior to September 11th,
2001, the events of 9/11 profoundly shaped the tone and direction of its
development.

The result is similar to Fox's counter-terrorism series 24, down to
that show's stylistic gimmicks (such as the use of split-screens and extreme
angles), frantic pacing, and glossy sheen. But MI-5 goes further in
presenting an unvarnished glimpse into the front lines of the war against
terrorism, venturing into territory that American television would never
approach. It's unlikely, for instance, that a domestic show would talk frankly
about an assassination attempt against President Bush; and most American
thrillers prefer to play it safe by utilizing fictional terrorist groups of
indeterminate nationality rather than name-dropping Al-Qaeda or the IRA. This
firm grounding in the real world lends MI-5 a realism and immediacy that
flashier shows like Alias can't match.

Unflinching candor is the guiding philosophy of MI-5, and moral
ambiguity the order of the day. Agents don't always do the right thing, and
their actions sometimes lead to tragedy for innocents caught between them and
the bad guys. Any sense of conventionality in MI-5 is swiftly dismissed
with the second episode; to discuss it in any detail would diminish its impact,
but suffice it to say that the resolution of this story is as brutally shocking
as anything I've seen in years. Series TV rarely gets this raw.

Performances are generally excellent, with Jenny Agutter and Keeley Hawes
particularly effective in two of the series' more complex, shaded roles.
MI-5 also has a knack for casting distinctive, memorable guest stars,
many of whom (like Anthony Stewart Head as a character very unlike Giles) will
be familiar to American viewers. My favorite MI-5 actor, though, is Hugh
Laurie (Stuart Little, Sense and Sensibility) as Jools Siviter,
the hilariously arrogant and condescending chief of MI-6 (MI-5's "big
sister" agency). Jools is such an over-the-top character that the realism
of the show suffers, but it's worth it.

The creators of MI-5 are blissfully unconcerned with audience
expectations; if you're as tired as I am of shows that punch the well-worn reset
button at the end of every episode and only besiege their characters with
life-altering events during "very special" sweeps-week stunts, you'll
love the way MI-5 regularly and casually pulls the rug out from under
your feet, with constant twists and turns that make it impossible to predict
where the story's going to go. It's disorienting at times, and the show's fast
pace and rapid-fire dialogue can leave a viewer grasping for the rewind button
on the remote, but that unpredictability is a welcome change of pace from the
kind of show where you can guess the entire plot of an episode from its opening
act.

MI-5: Volume 1 is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen,
transferred from 16mm film, and image quality is generally good, if a little
soft and grainy. I didn't notice any significant compression artifacts, though
the nature of the source makes some image noise inevitable during darker scenes.
Colors are vivid and lush, serving the show's slick, high-tech aesthetic quite
well. Overall, the show looks fine, and shouldn't disappoint fans of the
original broadcasts.

Audio, in the form of Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo tracks, is excellent,
clear, and bright; the 5.1 track is of course superior, packing a muscular punch
even if the surround channels are used mostly for ambient sounds or the
occasional gunshot or explosion. Dialogue is clearly reproduced -- though that
doesn't mean it's necessarily understandable, given the rapid pace of
conversations, an unfortunate tendency of certain actors to mumble, and
occasionally thick accents that had this Yank more than once availing himself of
the English subtitles (proving once again that the US and Britain are indeed two
countries separated by a common tongue).

MI-5: Volume 1 comes loaded with extra features. All six episodes
offer audio commentaries with various members of the cast and crew, and all are
worth a listen, though some of the commentators do come across as a bit awkward
and dry. Equally informative -- but a trifle droning -- are the interviews
spread across the three discs, featuring actors MacFadyen, Hawes, Firth,
Oyelowo, and Agutter, as well as various producers, editors, and writers (most
prominently series creator David Wolstencroft). Something I've noticed while
watching interviews included on DVDs of British titles is that Brits must have
much longer attention spans than average Americans; the interviews tend to be
lengthy, minimally edited blocks of monologue, and when the interviewee is
subdued and soft-spoken, as many of the participants on these discs are, the
result can be a little trying for viewers used to the jazzier pace of American
P.R. fluff.

Each disc also includes several featurettes, covering aspects of the show's
development and production, as well as profiles of the main characters. (Of note
is a five-minute segment entitled "The Terror Question" that examines
the influence of 9/11 and heightened awareness of terrorism on MI-5.)
You'll also find text-based character bios (usually leading into featurettes),
deleted scenes, image galleries, and DVD-ROM content (scripts, wallpapers, and
web links); and on Disc Two, a glossary of spy terminology. Finally, there's a
"Secret Credits" feature on each disc that serves up cast and crew
credits, which, for some odd reason, are omitted from the episodes themselves.
This is a more than substantial set of supplements that will keep you busy for
hours (though much of that time will be spent hunting these things down).

The Rebuttal Witnesses

MI-5's habit of sprinting off the line and directly into high gear,
giving only glancing attention to explanations of the situation at hand, can be
forbidding to viewers who prefer a little expository foreplay before the action
kicks in. At times it takes the entire length of an episode to figure out
precisely what's going on. While that frenetic pace makes for challenging
viewing, it might prevent the show from reaching a broader audience. But the
tough sledding pays off magnificently if you're willing to hang on for the
ride.

While unpredictability and inscrutability are usually good things when it
comes to drama, they're very, very bad things when it comes to DVD menus. In an
attempt to reflect the "spy" theme of the series in its navigation,
the menus are designed in the most annoying manner I have seen to date. Upon
loading the discs, you're presented with a tableau of a darkened room and an
office desk with items like a telephone, a stack of DVDs, and files arranged
across it. Nothing is labeled, and few of the items can be associated by common
sense with their function. The telephone leads to a list of language options:
why? The DVDs lead to a list of episode titles, some of which link to episodes,
others of which do nothing at all. Again: why? An offscreen voice chimes in to
explain what everything is, but that's obviously useless to a hearing-impaired
viewer or one who misses the info because they're too busy raging at the
atrocious usability. This menu isn't just user-unfriendly, it's downright
user-hostile.

Closing Statement

This is solid, gripping entertainment that pulls few punches. While it's a
little talkier and more reliant on suspense and mystery than trigger-happy
American action shows, MI-5 should please any fan of cloak-and-dagger
antics.

The Verdict

MI-5: Volume 1 is to be escorted immediately to a safe house, and all
record of its existence will be expunged from official records. In fact, you
didn't even read this review.